FAQs

Q. I’m a seller not a buyer. How do I find information?A. Click on Home, then Consignor and enter password or register for password access.

Q. Why am I hearing more about live auctions?A. Tax and bankruptcy seizures have been on the increase.

Q. Why do people go to live auctions?A. They offer excitement, beautiful merchandise, and fewer competing bidders than ever before.

Q. How do I bid at an auction?A. Just raise your hand or your bid card.

Q. When is your bid the winner?A. When the auctioneer believes there will be no higher bids made he will put his auction hammer down. This closes the bidding on the lot in question and also creates a binding contractual agreement with the highest bidder.

Q. Who is the auctioneer?A. Independently contracted by Asset Auctions, auctioneers conduct the proceedings accurately and fairly, according to training and professional codes of ethics. At Asset Auctions they must posess a minimum of 10 years experience auctioning a wide variety of seized goods, corporate and court ordered dispositions, sheriff seizures, and government appointed bailiff seizures; including precious gems, fine jewellery, Swiss watches, rare coins, exotic automobiles and high-value property.

Q. How much should I bid?A. Bid what you feel the item is worth to you and please remember that the appraisal amounts shown on appraisal documents at the auction are provided by government-appointed or consignor-appointed independent accredited professional insurance appraisers. You should not bid based only on the appraisal amount. You should not compare these appraisals to appraisals provided by people with conflicts of interest, such as people calling themselves appraisers, who are also in the business of buying or selling jewellery.

Q. Does the auctioneer influence the appraisal?A. Auction merchandise is received by Asset Auctions with appraisal documents already completed and accompanying the merchandise. Appraisals are developed by the government or other consignor using an independent appraiser who is not permitted to be a seller or buyer of jewellery himself or herself. This prevents conflict of interest. These appraisers specialize only in appraisals for insurance and customs purposes. Appraisals include appraisal date, appraiser signature and contact information, and are available for pre-inspection. The appraisal document becomes the property of the customer with the winning bid.

Q. How is the appraisal created?A. Appraisals are based on gem and precious metal value, weight, clarity, color, saturation, tone, quality, cut, unique design, physical condition and average fluctuating wholesale and retail prices worldwide. Some of these considerations are quite objective and scientific, others are more subjective opinions. It is the experience of Asset Auctions that appraisals may vary by up to plus or minus one-third.

Q. When does the winning bidder pay for the item(s)?A. For most items at the end of the auction you must either pay in full for the item (and if desired, take it with you immediately) or place a minimum 25% deposit on auction day and make arrangements to receive the item when the balance is paid within 7 days.

For certain high value feature items if you are the winning bidder you may be asked to place a deposit during the auction, right after you win the bid.

Balance payments must be paid within one week through our Service Centre. A. Your payment may be made in person on a cash-and-carry basis; or remotely, with your merchandise sent to you via secure courier.

Q. How can I pay?A. At auctions and at our service centre we accept major credit cards, Interac debit payments, cash and certified cheques.

Q. Are there extra charges?A. 15% service charge plus applicable taxes are added to all winning bid amounts.

Q. When should I arrive at the auction?A. You should arrive no later than 1:00 PM to allow time for registration and merchandise viewing before the auction itself begins at 2:00 PM. These are the usual times. If different the time will be included in our advertising. A viewing period of about one hour is always included in our planning.

Q. Can anyone attend an auction?A. Only adults can attend auctions and only those who register by completing a registration form and leaving behind government photo ID. The auction company reserves the right to remove any individual, refuse entry to any individual, and maintains a list of certain individuals who have lost the privilege of attendance. Media registration requires government photo ID plus a media business card. A jewellery auction is a highly secure environment with strict safety, security and privacy procedures.

Q. How do I know what to bid on?A. During viewing you can review all the merchandise lots, which generally include gems, jewellery, watches, coins and fine automobiles. You can ask questions, review appraisal documents, and handle some of the merchandise. Sometimes a fine quality vehicle will be presented using photos or video, and sometimes one will be actually on the floor at the auction.

Q. Will everything on display be auctioned?A. During viewing it is important for bidders to indicate to the auction team which items you are interested in bidding on, to help ensure that the auctioneer offers these lots during the auction. There is usually not enough time to auction everything, so we ask you to indicate your interests.

Q. How long does an auction take?A. Including viewing, 3-5 hours. But you can depart before it has ended.

Q. Can I arrive late?A. No. Registration closes before the viewing period ends.

Q. What if I can come for viewing, but cannot stay for the auction?A. You can register, review merchandise and leave behind advance bids and deposits on one or more lots. If no one exceeds your advance bid during the live auction afterwards, you become the winning bidder and we will contact you to complete the transaction.

Q. Are there reserve bids at Asset Auctions?A. Yes. Governments and other consignors sometimes establish minimum acceptable bids, called reserve bids. (You cannot bid $10 for a $10,000 item) The auctioneer will advise which lots have reserve bids. These are high enough to be reasonable and low enough to ensure excellent value for bidders.

Q. Where does the merchandise come from? Who owns it?A. Asset Auctions only handles merchandise from Governments and Corporations. Asset Auctions is selected by Governments and Corporations because of its high standards and because it protects the confidentiality of its consignors.

Q. How can I get more information?A. If you have questions before or after the auction, such as how to wind a watch or the specifics of our warranty, please contact our Customer Liaison Team at auctioninfo@assetauctions.ca If you have questions during the auction, ask our auction team, who will be pleased to help you within the restrictions already mentioned.

Q. Do you have a referral program?A. Yes. Save $100.00 by simply completing a referral card at one of our auctions and when you and your invited guest both become winning bidders, you receive $100 off your purchase. The referral card must be completed before the auction your friend attends. Your friend can attend the same or a different auction than you did, but the bonus applies after both you and your friend become winning bidders with purchases exceeding $100.

Q. Where does this merchandise come from?A. Asset Auctions manages the liquidation of merchandise seized on behalf of government bailiffs, law enforcement officials and other consignors. At most of our auctions more than 100 of the lots available consist of government-seized valuables.

Q. Is it new?A. Some is new and some is not new, but it is not accepted by Asset Auctions unless it is in ‘like-new’ condition. What’s most important is not the age of the item, but that it has passed rigorous inspections and certification processes.

Q. Is the merchandise guaranteed?A. All merchandise is guaranteed authentic in terms of brand names, gemstones and precious metals (unique assurance in the auction industry due to our expert team).

Q. Is there a Warranty? A. Yes. All watches come with a one-year limited Asset Auctions warranty for workmanship when noted in the descriptions, which does not include damage due to negligence or wear and tear. All jewellery items come with a one-year limited service warranty for sizing and simple repairs that do not require the addition of precious metals and gems. Asset Auctions and the seller do not make any other express or implied warranties or representations. Always inspect the items to your satisfaction prior to placing bids.

Q. Why doesn’t the government or law enforcement agency sell the merchandise itself?A. These bodies must maintain absolute fairness by hiring professional, independent bailiffs, appraisers and auction companies. Governments and law enforcement agencies, banks and financiers must recover public funds or financier losses, but are not equipped to manage customer service relating to seized merchandise such as jewellery. This must be undertaken by professional auction companies such as Asset Auctions who have expertise in connection with the merchandise, customer service, security, and with auction operations.

Q. Where can I get more information on consumer tips, auctioneers, appraisers and bailiffs.A. Click on our Live Auctions section and look under Links or click here.